Axios, a journalism startup that gets its name from the Greek for “worthy of”, launched a year ago as a “rolling R&D lab” to help “serious” news consumers.
On the occasion of Axios’ 1-year anniversary, congratulations rolled in fast on Twitter, but so did criticism. One Twitter user congratulated Axios for quickly becoming “a must-read for people across politics, media, tech and beyond. Rare media growth story in the age of cuts and closings…”
Happy First Birthday to @Axios, which fast succeeded in becoming a must-read for people across politics, media, tech and beyond. Rare media growth story in the age of cuts and closings… #ReaderFirst
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) January 18, 2018
Another tweet described Axios as a pioneer, one of the few publications in the past five years to “pioneer a new and useful editorial style. Who knew listicles could be used for good?”
https://twitter.com/mims/status/953658074660835328
However, Axios attracted a barrage of criticism too.
Twitter users weighed in Friday and through the weekend on whether they think Axios is worthy after one of its co-founders posted a celebratory anniversary photo to mark Axios’ 1-year birthday.
The photo showed what appeared to be a less-than-diverse workforce.
The Axios news website was founded in 2016 by Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei, Politico’s former Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen, and former Politico Chief Revenue Officer Roy Schwartz. (Politico is a political journalism company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy.)
The original plan at Axios was to create a high-end subscription publication with a focus on politics, health, tech, energy, business, and their intersections. The subscriptions haven’t happened yet.
However, Axios experienced early success, Lucas Quagliata wrote on Medium:
For one, the company was starting from scratch without a legacy model and without a need to support something that wasn’t part of their core plan. When the New York Times launches a new division, that division has to support all of the other parts of the company. While it does benefit from existing infrastructure, it carries baggage. Axios has no baggage, and it can change and adapt as it needs to in order to thrive in today’s media climate.
For another, (co-founder) VandeHei had the experience of starting and running a business at Politico, and he was able to leverage that into making fewer mistakes this time around. That’s been clear, he says, in the people he’s hired and the efficiency he’s implemented.”
So what about diversity in the people who have been hired to work at Axios? Will that turn out to be Axios’ biggest mistake to date?
These comments appeared on Axios co-founder Schwartz’s Twitter site @roylschwartz:
Here is the entire @axios team on our one year anniversary! pic.twitter.com/LAF4CGP14P
— Roy Schwartz (@roylschwartz) January 18, 2018
y'all should probably hire a diversity and inclusion person
— Calvin (@calvinstowell) January 18, 2018
I see the one black friend.
— Barbarella (@Barbarellaxo) January 18, 2018
He looks miserable, but the sister looks happy.
— Fred Brown (@frebrown) January 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/amsi81/status/954389295091146752
Just to the right of the only Asian.
— Captain Vee (@tvljr1) January 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/OrlaHutchinson/status/954104431720763394
Norway has more brown skin than that…
— Kevin Sinclair (@kevinsinclairsk) January 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/Ntombi/status/954105263660740608
https://twitter.com/MJB_XLIV/status/954371466795118592
this looks like republican congressional interns
— Paco Suerte (@xonoxue) January 18, 2018
— Jack Carr (@RentonWins) January 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/Dee_Marketing/status/954104223167385600
Uhhh… can we use facts?
— Rollo Tomasi (@Rollo_Blogs) January 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/Dierdra03/status/954100799264690176
https://twitter.com/nedraspeaks/status/954104748680077312
https://twitter.com/RatioHunter/status/954105187035176961
https://twitter.com/vee817/status/954105039743791105
That’s a Trump rally
— Avery D'Alessandro (@819studio) January 19, 2018
— Andrew Filson (@FilsonAndrew) January 18, 2018
Here are some of the things Axios hopes to achieve in its second year, according to a Neiman Lab report:
In his assessment of Axios, Quagliata wrote on Medium:
I was struck by how well the company was executing on its promise to deliver what it called ‘smart brevity’ with expertise, all while allowing its authors to maintain their voice. If that sounds like a mission statement, it is, but it’s also how I would genuinely describe Axios’ content.”
Is it true that Axios is allowing its authors to maintain their voice?
Ultimately, it’s the readers who will decide.
https://twitter.com/MayorWalker25/status/954015311128281088
